


Kýmata

by whimsicalfey



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Epic, Family, Family Secrets, For Want of a Nail, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Multi, Violence, War, a mother's love changes everything, if mikoto had lived
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 00:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17518829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalfey/pseuds/whimsicalfey
Summary: Mikoto has known what time she has is close to an end -- but the future ripples, flows like water. And when the King’s sword fails to reach her that fateful day, she gains a bit more.If only it will be enough.// AU; the ganglari is left behind at the bottomless canyon, and Mikoto lives -- carving new paths for her only daughter... but ones no less easy to travel





	Kýmata

**Author's Note:**

> warning for major spoilers of all games, including revelations and all other DLC (however weird xD)

_ kýmata — [ancient greek] waves _

 

* * *

 

 

The moment the dragon lands her on the ground, letting her roll into the grass, Corrin’s entire being is flooded with relief. And that the dragon is  _ Lilith  _ \-- her friend, and that little creature she’d cared for so long ago… 

 

She’s still reeling and too exhausted to be anything but grateful, as she hears the friendly voice, accepting the affectionate nuzzle against her neck. Like a wyvern, her scales smooth and breath warm and pungent against her neck.

 

But she's so much more, too.

 

“Thank you, Lilith. Really,” she smiles, in spite of the weakness that's taken over all her limbs, feeling an overwhelming sense of wonder, and gratitude -- for a moment, she thought she was going to... 

 

Corrin shivers, trying to block out the memory of moments before as Lilith gives her space and moves to stand, shakily using her sword as a crutch -- before she gasps, a sharp pain lancing surprisingly up her side. “Ugh!”

 

“Lady Corrin!” Lilith cries, immediately above her again. “Are you all right? Are you injured?” 

 

She remembers the ninja’s dark, angry gaze -- and it’s her hip that remembers his even sharper aim; the flesh still raw from where Jakob hastily coaxed it to heal. He hadn’t finished, but it was… “Just a little sore. I’ll be all right.” 

 

It’s instinctive to say -- but almost immediately, the words feel sticky on her tongue. Her thoughts come to her in pieces, as she tries to process… But she can’t think when all at once, all she hears are Hans’ words, resounding in her mind -- how it was Father’s… 

 

_ Oh, Gods.  _

 

And, oh, Gods -- Gunter.  _ Gunter.  _ Was he… was he really--?

 

“No… It can’t be.” 

 

Corrin jolts, but it isn’t her speaking. It’s  _ Lilith _ . Her friend’s voice sharpens to a hiss, and as a dragon it’s so fiercely Corrin shivers. “Lilith? I--”

 

“Lady Corrin, get away from that… that  _ thing!” _

 

_ What? _

 

It’s urgently enough that Corrin finds herself pushed, Lilith’s scaled form shoving her -- but her gasp is more surprised than pained. “Lilith, what in the Gods--?”

 

When she sees what Lilith is glaring at, amber eyes narrowed, Corrin stumbles. 

 

It’s… the Ganglari. 

 

Her sword. It’s lying on the grass where Corrin had dropped it, seemingly harmless but for the wispy black of its blade, which almost seems… stronger? 

 

The blade has always held a strange power, but now it seems to glow and pulse with black flickers of energy, in the wake of the chaos...

 

That’s when Corrin remembers, with a start. The blade, it… “It pulled me off the bridge.”

 

“It  _ what?”  _ the dragon says, startled. “It  _ pulled  _ you?”

 

Lilith doesn’t take her eyes off of it even in her surprise, tail curling to almost push Corrin further behind her, as if to shield her. 

 

“Yeah.” Corrin feels shaky. There was the sickening moment where the wood creaked, and Gunter’s horse squealed and he fell and she couldn’t  _ see _ him --  but she remembers the next part, too… Almost dismissed it as her imagination, but -- she remembers the horrifying lurch of the metal between her fingers yanking forward, then down until she couldn’t fill her lungs. “After… Gunter... Gods, Lilith -- Gunter -- did you--?"

 

The distress in her voice makes it high, and young, and she feels Lilith tense further beneath her. "I'm... sorry, Lady Corrin. I'm afraid Sir Gunter is gone from this world." 

 

Gunter...  _No._

 

She feels... strangely numb, at it all. But before she has much time to process, Lilith's spinal fine is scratching her cheek, gently prodding. "I'm sorry, Lady Corrin. There is a time to grieve, but I need you now. Are you... Are you sure it moved you toward the chasm? This blade?"

 

Right after she looked, fingers grasping the air where Gunter's mare had been, moments before... "Yes."

 

The dragon in front of her bristles. 

 

“This sword is tainted,” Lilith explains after a moment, more serious than Corrin has ever seen her. “I could feel it in the air, somehow, but it wasn’t until you let go of it… I knew it was not you.” 

 

“Not me?” Corrin says, blinking.  _ What?  _  “Lilith... what do you mean? What’s wrong with it?”

 

What had father  _ given _ her?

 

Minutes before, the sight of the blade made her heart swell, at the reminder of the gesture it was -- at the trust. Father wasn’t what she thought he was, when she saw him… didn’t fit the faded wisps of memory and emotion she remembered -- not at all -- and that made her uneasy, but the sword… It was a gift, and he’s her father, and she just needed to  _ prove  _ herself. 

 

Now all she feels is a twisting in her stomach. 

 

On the ground before her, the long, misshapen blade seems to have an eerie presence -- as if sensing Lilith’s hostility.

 

What… what was going on?

 

“It does not belong here, or in your world,” is all Lilith says, almost angrily, before her tailfin presses against the younger girl’s middle, urging her further back. “It shouldn’t have as much power in this realm, but you need to go, Lady Corrin. It’s not safe to be near.” 

 

It’s only the tight undercurrent of fear and the firmness in Lilith’s voice that stops Corrin from protesting, from demanding more explanation -- so out of place in her strangely shy friend, and even more out of place on the dragon she is now. 

 

But Lilith will have no arguments. 

 

“I’m sending you back to your realm, Lady Corrin,” she says, and Corrin feels ill now -- worry snaking its way around her neck, threatening to squeeze. “I can only take you where we were before, I’m sorry. Please be prepared.”

 

“But Lilith--” she says, startled. “I’m -- what about you? You said you were tired, and that sword -- can it hurt you--?” 

 

“I’m so sorry, Lady Corrin. I will find you later, and explain what I can. But you need to leave now,” she says, rushed, but she turns as her large maw curls into a small, gentle smile -- her eyes expressive. “And I will be fine. Please focus on yourself.” 

 

“Lilith--” 

 

But there’s no room for anything else, as a blinding light erupts at the edge of Lilith’s tailfin with a flicker -- swallowing Corrin whole. 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: this is the creation of me crying one too many times when mikoto dies, and too much agonizing over how corrin never gets to know her, or even remember her. so here is me taking a crack at creating a world where she gets the chance. it's evolved into kind of an epic (at least in idea/outline form *coughs*), where mikoto living just a bit longer shifts everything. 
> 
> i do plan for there to be pairings in the future, including with corrin, but while there is an outline of a plot for this... i haven't decided on the pairing yet? xD it is not romance focused, but there will be romance. (and if anyone has any, i'd love to hear ideas? owo whether they are m/f, f/f, or m/m.)


End file.
